Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
Generic

Brady McFarland

Cheyenne,WY

Summary

Results-driven Data Center Technician Manager with a proven track record of leading high-performing teams and delivering large-scale infrastructure projects in mission-critical environments. Skilled in data center operations, capacity planning, and ITIL-based incident/change management, with hands-on experience driving GPU deployment programs, complex decommissioning initiatives, and safety compliance. Adept at optimizing workflows, reducing operational risk, and aligning resources to meet aggressive business timelines. Recognized improving deployment efficiency, and building strong cross-functional partnerships across multiple metros. Committed to team development, operational excellence, and continuous improvement in fast-paced, high-availability environments.

Overview

8
8
years of professional experience

Work History

Data Center Technician Manager

Microsoft
02.2024 - Current
  • Lead 15 data center technicians across two shifts, sustaining operational continuity while scaling capacity for business‑critical workflows.
  • Drive OKR delivery for core ops: Receive‑to‑Cable P75 = 9.36 hours (target < 12), achieved and MEP uptime to racks; addressed misses (e.g., TRIR, SAW healthy) via vendor coaching, PPE enforcement, EHS follow‑ups, and monthly observations.
  • Orchestrate multi‑metro GPU deployment support across PHX, DFW, ATL and RIC: built travel schedules, handled corp‑card/travel setup, and coordinated with the travel lead—Cheyenne became one of the largest support contributors, ensuring on‑time turn‑ups.
  • Execute high‑scale CYS decommissions to unlock growth headroom: 593 racks and 25,784 servers decommissioned (Nov ’24–Apr ’25) to free 9.2 MW for new deployments; completed CYS02 ITPAC cells 6–12, reclaiming 32 MW (with 8 MW immediately redirected to CYS41 and 23 MW available for rebalancing).
  • Led the Decommission Incident Action Plan post‑Sev1: partnered with ITOMS/site leadership on RCA, closed workflow gaps, delivered in‑person training, and enforced badge validation with L&D—only qualified techs work unsupervised on deployment/decommission tasks
  • Re‑engineered deployment staging to align with the runbook and instituted a monthly PM–Deployment sync, tightening accountability and restoring in‑scope workload ownership; partnered with the DC Change PM to land CYS02 decommission (including T2 network devices).
  • Lifted team productivity and transparency: promoted healthy ticket‑handling habits; achieve and maintain Team CToT(Continuous Time on Task) goal.
  • Strengthened safety culture: 100% on‑time safety trainings/orientations, accurate near‑miss/incident reporting, vendor coaching and PPE enforcement—improved hazard visibility and accountability.
  • Build talent and grow talent pipelines: hire Senior technicians, set clear expectations and rhythm‑of‑business habits. Enabled growth with individualized SMART goals with regular 1:1 coaching.
  • Made deliberate trade‑offs to protect GPU time‑to‑capacity, with clear risk/mitigation communication to stakeholders.

Data Center Technician

Microsoft
05.2022 - 02.2024
  • Developed and maintain respectful and valuable relationships with internal and external team members and management staff in order to maintain positive lines of communication
  • Act as Site Services primary point of contact when Senior or Management is unavailable
  • Assist and coach technicians on proper troubleshooting processes, incident management and escalations.
  • Coordinated the successful deployment of multiple A100 clusters as Site Services main point of contact
  • Maintain accountability of A100 deployments by being part of the "A100 Deployments - Field Ops" team
  • Complete assigned tickets efficiently in accordance of Service Level Agreements, with minimal guidance from other technicians
  • Surpass TpT expectations by maintaining a monthly average "Tasks per Tech" of 10.7 or greater
  • Perform diagnostics and troubleshooting, following standard procedures, and escalating issues to appropriate service groups
  • Participate in daily safety briefings, complete required safety training, and comply with safety procedures
  • Maintain the integrity of the company by emulating safety culture and having a "GOAL" mindset
  • Contribute to a positive and effective team by sharing information with others to maintain workflow in a 24x7x365 datacenter environment.

Data Center Technician

Ascent LLC
05.2021 - 05.2022
  • Installed cabinets and network racks in server rooms
  • Managed, coordinated, and checked materials delivered to sites
  • Helped in maintaining a safe working environment
  • Provided troubleshooting on server issues reported by members of staff
  • Performed troubleshooting and equipment diagnostics in order to resolve connectivity issues
  • Set up new servers and networking systems designed to suit the clients' needs
  • Ran and troubleshoot fiber and copper cabling according to customers' requests
  • Managed, tracked, and updated ticket queue to document and inform customer of workflow

Data Center Technician - Build Lead

Volt - Apple Inc, Data Centers
12.2019 - 04.2021
  • Lead and coached production team in a live datacenter environment
  • Coordinated and communicated daily responsibilities with team in order to maintain buildout deadlines
  • Supervised 16 technicians and found ways to coach and improve their success.
  • Delegated key responsibilities to experienced technicians in order to maintain consistent workflow
  • Established a professional working relationship with team members and management staff
  • Read and interpret cable matrix to install network switches/routers, power distribution sources and network connections including fiber, ethernet, and DAC
  • Utilized in-house tracking methods to monitor and record build times to increase production and optimize throughput
  • Facilitated the installation of network equipment and servers into specified cabinets
  • Exhibited initiative by coordinating with other leaders to implement optimized production processes
  • Received, updated and staged new assets for integration team to deploy
  • Managed, tracked and updated hardware statuses using Apple Database (aDB)

Computer Technician

Computers and Questions
10.2017 - 12.2019
  • Installed hardware and configured software; includes standardizing software and reimaging machines
  • Built and configured custom Desktop PCs
  • Troubleshooted system failures or bugs and provided solutions to restore functionality
  • Mobile phone/iPhone repair
  • IT Help desk/customer service role
  • Communicated customer needs face to face in order to resolve technical issues at hand

Education

BA - Computer Science

BYU-Idaho

Skills

  • Team Leadership
  • Critical Thinking
  • Datacenter Operations
  • Datacenter Integrations
  • Production Optimization
  • Inventory Management
  • Break-Fix
  • Networking
  • Sever/Rack Deployment
  • GPU Deployments
  • Decommissions
  • Cross-Metro Coordination

Timeline

Data Center Technician Manager

Microsoft
02.2024 - Current

Data Center Technician

Microsoft
05.2022 - 02.2024

Data Center Technician

Ascent LLC
05.2021 - 05.2022

Data Center Technician - Build Lead

Volt - Apple Inc, Data Centers
12.2019 - 04.2021

Computer Technician

Computers and Questions
10.2017 - 12.2019

BA - Computer Science

BYU-Idaho

Similar Profiles

CREATE PROFILE